The Biden White House had a difficult weekend as pro-Palestinian protesters continue to be a thorn in the side of the administration and the Democratic Party. Thousands arrived outside of the White House on Saturday to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and for Biden to stop sending weapons to Israel. Police erected additional fencing around the White House in anticipation of the protests and deployed pepper spray against at least one demonstrator, but no arrests were made. Instead, the pro-Palestinian activists left graffiti on statues in Lafayette Square and trash strewn around the perimeter of the White House complex.
President Joe Biden was in France for a state visit with President Emmanuel Macron during the demonstration, which took place the same day as the Capital Pride Parade. His number two, Vice President Kamala Harris, faced her own protest in her home state of California. Harris attended a fundraiser for the Biden campaign in San Francisco on Wednesday and was greeted by hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters. The night prior, she was shouted down by members of progressive activist organization Code Pink while taping an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show. “Real babies have been beheaded! Not fake babies like Joe Biden said he saw!” one protester said.
The barrage didn’t stop when Harris spoke at a dinner hosted by the Michigan Democratic Party on Sunday night. A heckler shouted out, “It’s a genocide,” as Harris spoke on news that four Israeli hostages had been saved from captivity. “I’m speaking right now,” Harris said in response to the heckler. “I value and respect your voice, but I’m speaking right now.”
Harris said that she was thankful the four hostages were reunited with their families but added that she was mourning those “tragically killed” in the raid on Gaza. Hamas claims almost 300 innocent Palestinians were killed in the IDF’s operation to free the hostages, while the IDF says the number is closer to 100. Pro-Palestinian activists have criticized Israel for the ratio of civilian deaths to rescued hostages, while pro-Israel voices say Hamas is at fault for hiding the hostages among civilians. Early reports claim some of the hostages were being held in the home of Abdullah al-Jamal, a reporter for the Palestinian Chronicle and Al Jazeera and his father, Dr. Ahmed al-Jamal.
National security advisor Jake Sullivan said after the hostage rescue that the “only credible path forward” is for Hamas to accept a ceasefire proposal brought forth by the Biden administration.
-Amber Duke
On our radar
‘JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING… WAS GONE’ Lunden Roberts, the estranged mother of Hunter Biden’s daughter, Navy, claimed in an interview that her phone mysteriously crashed and was wiped of nearly everything relating to Hunter after she first discovered she was pregnant.
MARTHA VERSUS MAYORKAS ABC News host Martha Raddatz told DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that it is “hard” to call Biden’s border policies “a success” when 6.5 million illegal aliens have been tracked entering the country since 2021. Mayorkas replied that immigration is a “dynamic phenomenon.”
NAVY YARD STRIKES AGAIN A staffer for Representative Mike Collins was reportedly held up at gunpoint in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, DC over the weekend. “One attacker took a watch, the other took a fist to the face,” Collins tweeted of the encounter.
Trump gets tipsy
Donald Trump said during a rally in Las Vegas on Sunday that he would eliminate taxes on tips for service workers. “This is the first time I’ve said this, and for those hotel workers and people that get tips you’re going to be very happy,” he said. Trump claimed when he gets to office, “We are going to not charge taxes on tips — people making tips. It’s been a point of contention for years and years and years and you do a great job of service, you take care of people, and I think it’s going to be something that really is deserved.”
This would have to be an act of Congress, as some have reported. “President Trump will ask Congress to eliminate taxes on tips,” a spokeswoman said. Trump has a five-point lead against President Joe Biden in the state of Nevada, according to a Fox News poll.
“Relief is definitely needed for tip earners,” Culinary Union secretary-treasurer Ted Pappageorge said in a statement. “But Nevada workers are smart enough to know the difference between real solutions and wild campaign promises from a convicted felon.”
Donald Trump also called for Biden to have a cognitive test and to take a drug test ahead of the first debate between the candidates “’cause I’m willing to take one.”
–Ella Johnson
Trump and Biden’s legal troubles carry on
Hunter Biden’s lawyers announced Monday that he will not testify at his gun trial, as the case nears closing arguments. FBI special agent Erika Jensen has been called back to review text messages that were introduced last week following the testimony of Biden’s ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and Zoe Kestan, another woman he was romantically involved with whom he met in a Manhattan gentlemen’s club.
The defense has continued to focus on the fact that location data used by prosecutors is allegedly not definitive. They claim there are holes in the case being ignored to depict a politicized narrative of Hunter Biden’s actions. Biden is accused of lying on a federal form to purchase a firearm while actively using illegal drugs.
Following the guilty verdict in Donald Trump’s “hush-money” trial, the former president sits for a virtual interview on Monday with a New York City probation officer. He’ll be joining in from his home at Mar-a-Lago, with his attorney Todd Blanche.
–Juan P. Villasmil
From the site
Michael Evans: Why Joe Biden’s Gaza ceasefire proposal failed
Ben Domenech: CNN’s moderators must ask Biden the tough Hunter question
